The 2011 Expanded Critics' Poll

JT's critics choose their favorite musicians, books, DVDs and more

After the encouraging response we received to last year’s inaugural full-length Critics’ Poll, we decided to make it an annual tradition. Our regular contributors were asked to vote in the same categories that make up our yearly Readers' Poll, ranking their top five choices in each. The poll focuses on artists’ achievements during 2011, as opposed to their careers in whole.

Winners below are bolded; runners-up are listed in order of number of points. THE EDITORS

Book∙ New Atlantis: Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans by John Swenson (Oxford University Press)∙ Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice by Tad Hershorn (University of California Press)
∙ What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years by Ricky Riccardi (Pantheon Books)
∙ All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennettby David Evanier (Wiley)
∙ Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz by Benjamin Cawthra (University of Chicago Press)